Stay Put
by Maus17
Summary: A giant robot and a turtle aren't really THAT different...


Raphael heaved a mixture of a sigh and a groan from his spot on the floor as his injuries throbbed. A long gash ran artfully down his side, and though it wasn't broken, his ankle was the size of a softball. He was covered in little bits of metal, his own blood, and coated in a fine layer of dust.

What hurt the most was his pride. Barely five minutes into the fight, and they'd been blasted aside like a bunch of pansies, blown to bits and rendered useless. And what had Leo said as he dragged him back to Ground Zero? Stay put.

They were NOT going back, not going to push through, not going to keep fighting. No- they had to stay put, and sit here like bumps on a log. He ripped his golden gaze away from the ceiling as a sharp tremor racked through the ground and growled to himself in frustration, arms crossed right over his plastron. This SUCKED. If only-

"Organic. You make that little noise again, and I swear by Primus-"

Raph grimaced at the gruff metallic voice, and clenched his jaw at the two bright blue orbs he'd been avoiding. Stupid, stupid robots.

"Ain't 'organic', tin can. The name's Raphael- remember it," he grumbled, eyes narrowing so that they resembled amber flints as he looked up at the hulking figure. A growl was heard in response, and the two orbs came closer, invading his personal space and filling his eyes with a scarred metal face.

"S'not 'tin can'. It's Wheeljack. Remember it," snarled the transformer, not in the happiest of moods. His helm was spinning, and one of his servos was entirely scrapped, sparking and crackling uselessly at his side. Stupid, stupid Starscream.

Unabashed, Raph pressed his face closer and scoffed, glaring.

"Oh yeah? What're you going to do? Blast me with that cannon of yours?" he challenged, motioning to Wheeljack's shattered arm. The Autobot growled and shifted, his metal clanking and scraping against the walls of the small space.

"I may have one servo in the scrap heap- but that doesn't mean I can't squish you like a nanobot," he hissed, optics icy slits as he leaned back and rested his helm against the wall. The turtle snorted and shook his head, arching an eye ridge and trying to sit up enough so he could stare out the dusty window.

"Whatever."

Wheeljack watched the feisty creature crane his neck and narrow his eyes, lip curling as he caught sight of all-too familiar rocket boosters zooming past the window.

The red masked turtle glared. His brothers were freaking fighting these things- giant hulking alien robots- while he sat here and watched. And what had Fearless told him?

"Stay put my aft," grouched the Autobot behind him, tapping an impatient metal digit on the ground and huffing. "I'm a Wrecker. I can hold my own- and I don't need to baby-sit grumpy organics that act like dejected sparklings."

The robot raised an ocular ridge as Raphael turned around, hobbled towards him, and punched the tip of his lower servo. It was surprisingly strong. For an organic.

"No one asked ya to stay. I ain't like your company either, canner. If you're so hyped about going back out there, go ahead. Get blown up. No one's stoppin' ya," Raph griped. Inwardly, he was a bit apprehensive. Wheeljack was rough, gritty, and he didn't take anyone's crap. He respected him for that, and he knew the Autobots were on their side- to keep the world from blowing up and becoming 'Con City, yadda yadda...

But if he heard this 'I'm a Wrecker' crud one more time...

He watched apprehensively as Wheeljack's optics widened, and tensed. If this guy was serious about squishing him, he'd have to freaking catch him first. Provided he could run fast enough with his messed up ankle.

To his shock, Wheeljack started...laughing. His chassis heaved, and he shuttered his optics as he rumbled mirthfully, shaking his helm. When he opened his optics and gazed down at a very stunned Raphael, he grinned.

"You'd make a good Wrecker," was all he chuckled, shuttering his optics halfway and leaning back with a soft ex-vent. Who was he kidding? He was going nowhere soon.

Without his cannon, and his good throwing servo to launch grenades, unable to shift into his alt mode- he was kind of useless. Although he hated to admit it, staying put was all he could do.

He watched the strange organic gape at him and shake its head, limping back to his seat.

"You robots are freakin' weird," he growled, eyeing him before he spoke up again. "What the hell is a Wrecker, anyway?"

He stared at the Autobot as he tapped a thick petal digit to his chin plating and tilted his helm.

"Hm," he mumbled quietly. "How to explain it to someone like you... Alright, so the Wreckers were the roughest, toughest bots out there in the forces. They took missions no other bot dared take, missions that were labeled as highly dangerous and nearly impossible. I'm not putting the rest of the army down- but in my humble opinion," Wheeljack drawled. "The Wreckers were the best of the best."

Blinking, his eye ridges furrowed, Raphael crossed his arms and tilted his head. His frustration was replaced by curiosity, and intrigue. This guy- this grumpy pile of scrap- had been a 'soldier' of sorts? Hard to believe, the way he carried himself and made Leo and OP go crazy.

"So...kinda like..Black Ops? That's..cool, I guess...so what happened to 'em? Why can't ya bring your Wrecker friends and blow the Screamer guy up? Save us a buncha trouble," he asked, watching Wheeljack shake his helm and sigh as his features hardened.

"It's not that easy, kid. The Wreckers disbanded. Scattered. I've spent half my life cycle tracking them down and trying to find them. The 'Cons must've thought about them as a threat, 'cause every darn Wrecker I knew..." he trailed off and made a fist with his servo before rapidly spreading his fingers and making an exploding noise. "Blown to bits."

His optics softened for a moment, and contrary to Raph's belief on robots being cold and unfeeling... Wheeljack looked sad.

"Oh."

That was all Raphael could bring himself to say as he tore his gaze from the robot awkwardly. He wasn't the emotional type, the one who was good at talking in moments like this one. That was either Mikey, Leo, or Don. Not him. Wheeljack's voice interrupted his thoughts, making him look up in slight relief.

"Yeah, so, anyway. You'd make a good one."

"Yeah? Why's that?"

"'Cause you're rough and tumble, to the point, and you're an annoying little fragger," the robot joked, rolling his optics at the glare he received.

"Oh- real funny...ya know, I thought ya were gonna be more like Leo when I first saw ya," added the turtle after a moment's brief silence. Wheeljack squinted, racing through his processor.

"Leo...the guy in the blue? That tight-aft? Why?" he asked, bewildered as he watched Raphael chuckle lowly in amusement.

"'Cause of the swords."

"Nice."

Raph scoffed in amusement as Wheeljack smirked and shook his helm, shuttering his optics briefly. Maybe being stuck here wasn't that bad after all. Sure, they both hurt, and they couldn't really do anything but sit here and listen to-...

Listen to...silence...?

He tensed out of instinct and stood up, hissing quietly as his ankle screamed in protest. Raphael narrowed his eyes at the door and gritted his teeth, emerald skin coiling as his muscles bunched together. Puzzled, the Autobot turned to the door and squinted.

"What's your malfunction?"

"Shhhh...hear that?"

"Hear what, I don't hear-"

"Exactly."

Optics widening, Wheeljack edged away from the door and heaved himself up with soft clanks, crouching and curling his digits into fists. So he couldn't throw a grenade or use his guns, but some servo-to-servo wouldn't kill him. It was better than hurling a single sword around like an idiot slagger. Silence ruled the air as Raphael inched closer to him, unsheathing his pronged weapons and twirling them menacingly.

No rockets, no cannon blasts, no cries- no nothing.

Except for a small scraping sound, and hushed whispers. Both the robot and the turtle tensed, holding their breaths, waiting... Waiting...

The door twitched, and the scraping of footsteps could be heard outside. Was it a lone Decepticon? Trying to catch them off guard? Was it Starscream himself, here to proclaim victory?

With a flash of light and a crash, the door swung open, and both lunged, fierce cries escaping their vocals before they froze, and gaped.

At a very confused and startled Bumblebee.

The yellow mech's optics widened, and he lifted his servos to cover his face with a metallic whine. When he'd been commanded to let the wounded soldiers out, this wasn't the greeting he expected.

"Whoah! DUDES! Chill out!"

A filthy, sweaty, and bloody Michelangelo clung to Bee's shoulder, laughing his shell off at the shocked expressions of Raphael and Wheeljack as the yellow robot waved them away and let out a series of mechanic noises that sounded like a grumble.

Growling in frustration, Raphael shoved his Sai back in his belt and hobbled out of the compound.

"A little warning woulda been nice," he griped, watching Wheeljack drag himself out of the cramped space and stretch, heaving a sigh of relief. He cracked his wires and stiffened tendons, standing to his full height.

"Least we're out of there- did we win?" he asked, optics expectant. Mikey shared an anxious look with Bee and the mech clicked sorrowfully in response, shaking his head.

"No, the dude got away," he said in defeat, shrugging his shoulders.

To their surprise, Wheeljack clenched his digits into a fist and smirked.

"Good. We'll get him next time," he said, motioning with his chin platings at an amused Raphael. The turtle crossed his arms, eyes grim but determined as a smug smile pulled at his lips.

"Yeah- us Wreckers are gonna scrap him. You guys can just..."

The turtle and the Autobot shared a special look before looking back at their teammates, chuckling as they spoke at the same time.

"Stay put."


End file.
